RUSS 21000: Russian Civilization: From Folklore to Philosophy (Comparative Literature) An introductory and interdisciplinary study of fundamental aspects of Russian culture
from medieval Russia through the post-Soviet era, with emphasis on the changing and
evolving concept of Russian identity over the centuries. A broad range of texts will
include folktales, memoirs, fiction, painting, poetry, philosophy, music and film.
Every three years. Fall 2012. [W, C, AH]

RUSS 22000: Russian Culture Through Film (Comparative Literature, Film Studies) An introduction to twentieth-century Russian society and culture through the medium
of cinema, covering the immediate pre- and post-revolutionary periods, Stalinism,
the post-Stalin “thaw,” stagnation under Brezhnev, Gorbachev’s “perestroika” and “glasnost,”
and the post-communist era. Weekly screenings of films will be supplemented with readings
in Russian film theory and criticism. Every three years. Not offered 2012-2013. [C,
AH]

RUSS 23000: Russian Drama Practicum (Comparative Literature) This course has two components. The first is an in-depth study of the works of one
major Russian playwright. The course will address figures such as Nikolai Gogol, Anton
Chekhov, and Mikhail Bulgakov. Since these artists were prose writers to the same
extent as they were playwrights, we will read a wide selection of both their prose
and their dramatic works in order to understand the significance of their artistic
innovations. The second part of the course will be to produce one of our author’s
major plays as a class and to present it to the public at the end of the semester.
No acting experience required. Every three years. Not offered 2012-2013. [C, AH]

RUSS 25000-25001: Russian Literature in the Age of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy (Comparative Literature) In the nineteenth century, Russia witnessed an unprecedented explosion of literary
and intellectual activity, a renaissance which yielded some of the greatest masterpieces
world literature has seen. Our course will examine the seven most prominent authors
of this period, with special emphasis on Russia’s unique handling of the sudden influx
of European philosophy and culture (Rationalism, Idealism, Romanticism, Atheism, Socialism).
Through its literary canon, we will explore how Russia envisioned the problems of
modern individualism in a culture divided between European and Slavic roots. Every
three years. Spring 2013. [C, AH]

RUSS 26000: The Artist and the Tyrant: Twentieth-Century Russian Literature (Comparative Literature) Russian literature developed side by side with the myths and horrors of a cataclysmic
twentieth century. In this course, we will read some of the most powerful artistic
meditations on the collapse of imperial Russia, on the dream and nightmare of the
Soviet experiment, and on the search for dignity and meaning in the post-Soviet contemporary
world. Authors include Nobel laureates Pasternak, Bunin, Solzhenitsyn and Brodsky.
We will also read novels by Bulgakov and Nabokov, short stories from a host of writers
from Babel to Petrushevksaya, and some of the major poetry of the era in translation.
Every three years. Not offered 2012-2013. [C, AH]

RUSS 40000: Tutorial Individually supervised advanced language learning. By prior arrangement with the
department only. Prerequisite: RUSS 20200 or equivalent; the approval of both the supervising faculty
member and the chairperson is required prior to registration.

RUSS 40100: Independent Study Bibliographical and research methods in Russian Studies, including the preparation
of one longer research paper. Normally taken Semester II of the junior year.

RUSS 45100: Senior Independent Study - Semester One The first semester of the Senior Independent Study project, in which each student
engages in creative and independent research of a specific topic in Russian Studies
guided by a faculty mentor and which culminates in a thesis and an oral examination
in the second semester. Prerequisite: RUSS 40100.

RUSS 45200: Senior Independent Study - Semester One The second semester of the Senior Independent Study project, which culminates in
the thesis and an oral examination. Prerequisite: RUSS 45100.